Gleamd, New "Digg-for-People" Site, Does What MySpace News Should Have
Gleamd is a new site that aims to mesh the popularity of social news sites (submit stories, vote for the ones you like, most popular get “bubbled up” to the front page) with social networking sites. Mashable reports that people will be able to vote for other people’s profiles, with the most popular getting highlighted every few days.
This is exactly the direction that MySpace News should have taken. Instead, it’s sadly a ghost town of a social news site, its front page still riddled with stories that have zero votes.
It’s a wide open opportunity that’s just waiting to be taken advantage of. Think about it: allow the millions of MySpace members to have the ability to opt in to a voting system. Therefore, there’s no voting for people who don’t want to be subjected to the democratic (or the MySpace version of it, at any rate) process.
When browsing around social networking sites, there are a few basic things you can do: ask people to be your friend, bookmark profiles, and leave comments. A simple Digg-like system of voting would easily and cleanly tie into this online experience, and I think it would be instantly and extremely popular.
The compulsion for self-expression and mini-online-celebrity would also surely prompt massive interest. And the most popular profiles get special placement and recognition on the site.
